Wastebasket and dustpan combination



April 27, 1954 B. ,H. SMITH 2,676,728

WASTEBASKET AND DUSTPAN COMBINATION I Filed May 15', 1951 INVENTOR .ZE/Ydfl/Vl/V f/S'M/ r Patented Apr. 27, 1954 WASTEBASKET AND DUSTPAN COMBINATION Benjamin H. Smith, Houston, Tex.

Application May 15, 1951, Serial No. 226,401

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to wastebaskets and more particularly to a wastebasket and dustpan combination in which the wastebasket has a dustpan receiving compartment therein.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved wastebasket having a dustpan receiving compartment in the lower portion thereof and a dustpan slidably fitting the compartment provided therefor in the wastebasket; which may be manufactured from various materials in different sizes and shapes; which provides a dustpan which is readily removable from the wastebasket for use and readily replaceable in the wastebasket; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manuiacture and neat and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a wastebasket and dustpan combination illustrative of the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the wastebasket and dustpan combination, a portion being broken away to better illustrate the construction thereof;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view on the line l4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2; and

Figure 6 is a perspective View of a dustpan and brush constituting components of the combination.

With continued reference to the drawing, the numeral it generally designates a wastebasket having a side wall which, in the form illustrated, is of square or rectangular cross sectional shape and includes four side wall portions l 5, i2, i3 and I4, the four portions of the side wall being flat and the side wall being tapered from the upper to the lower end of the basket. It is to be understood, however, that the side wall of the basket may have various other shapes without in any way exceeding the scope of the invention.

Two bottom walls l5 and It are disposed in the wastebasket near the smaller, bottom end of the side wall and are arranged in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center line or axis of the side wall. Each of these end walls has a flat portion of the same size and shape as the cross sectional area of the corresponding portion of the basket and has a marginal flange secured to the inner surface of the side wall to support the end walls in the basket. The smaller, bottom end portion of the basket extends beyond the lower bottom wall I 6 and each side wall portion is provided at its lower end with a rectangular cutout as indicated at H and [8 in Figures 1 and 2, providing legs of right angular cross sectional shape, disposed one at each corner of the basket and designated at l9.

Two rails 20 and 2i are disposed within the space between the bottom walls [5 and It in spaced apart and. substantially parallel relationship to each other and are secured at their lower edges to the upper surface of the lower bottom wall I6, extending upwardly from the latter. In the arrangement illustrated, the rail 20 is disposed adjacent and substantially parallel to the side wall portion l2 and the rail 2| is disposed adjacent and substantially parallel to the side wall portion I 3. These rails extend between the side wall portions H and I3 and are disposed substantially perpendicular to these side wall portions. The side wall portion I 3 is provided with an opening 22 of elongated, rectangular shape extending between the adjacent ends of the rails 20 and 2! and opening into the space between the upper and lower bottom walls [5 and I6. These rails constitute guide rails for the dustpan, generally indicated at 23.

The dustpan 23 has a flat bottom 24 of rectangular shape and has side wall flanges 25 and 26 and one end Wall flange 21, the other end wall being omitted and the side wall flanges 25 and 26 being tapered in width from locations intermediate their length to the end of the bottom wall remote from the end wall flange 21.

The dustpan has a width substantially equal to the distance between the guide rails 20 and 2| and the dustpan end wall 2? has a shape and size such that it closes the opening 22 in the side wall portion [3 of the wastebasket when the dustpan is in place in the wastebasket, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 A hand knob 28 is secured to the end wall flange 27 of the dustpan at the mid-length location of this flange and extends from the outer side of the flange to provide a hand grip for pulling the dustpan out of the dustpan receiving space or compartment in the wastebasket.

It is to be noted that the construction which I have devised is one which is particularly efiective in causing the location of the spaced, horizontal bottom walls in planes properly disposed relative to the drawer receiving opening 22, said construction being particularly adapted to facilitate simplification of the manufacture of the device. Thus, the receptacle is of downwardly tapering formation, having side walls converging in the direction of the lower end thereof to reduce the cross sectional area of the receptacle progressively toward said lower end. In conjunction with this arrangement, I provide the bottom walls l5, it, each of said walls having depending, peripheral flanges tapered correspondingly to the taper of the receptacle. Since the bottom walls are of different areas, it will be seen that in the manufacture of the article, the wall 15 can be inserted through the lower end of the article, and will be limited against movement below the plane in which it is to be mounted, by reason of the tapered receptacle formation, the flange of the wall it engaging the side wall of the receptacle when said wall i has been moved downwardly within the receptacle to a plane substantially coplaner with the lower edge of the drawer receiving opening 22. The other bottom wall, since it is to be spaced above the wall it, is formed to a larger area and whenv extended downwardly within the receptacle during the manufacture thereof, will bind against the tapered receptacle wall at a location just above the upper edge of opening 22. This simplifies the construction, and causes said walls to automatically find their proper planes, during the manufacture of the device.

A small, flat brush 29 is placed in the dustpan when the dustpan is placed in the compartment provided therefor in the wastbasket for use in sweeping material into the dustpan, when the dustpan is removed from the wastebasket for use.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

In a wastebasket and duspan combination, a receptacle formed to a rectangular cross sectional shape with the side walls thereof converging downwardly to reduce the receptacle progressively in cross sectional area in the direction of its lower end; a horizontal bottom wall within and spaced from the lower end of the receptacle and having an area equal to the cross sectional area of the receptacle at a location spaced from said lower end, said bottom wall having a depending peripheral flange tapered downwardly complementarily to the taper of the receptacle, to bind against the inner surfaces of said side walls and support said bottom wall above the lower end of the receptacle in engagement throughout its periphery with said side walls; a second bottom wall disposed between and in spaced relation to the first-named bottom wall and said lower end of the receptacle and having an area equal to the cross sectional area of the receptacle at a location spacedbelow that at which the first-named bottom wall is supported, said second bottom wall having a peripheral flange tapered complementarily to the taper of the receptacle, to bind against the inner surfaces of said side walls and support said second-named bottom wall above the lower end of th receptacle in engagement throughout its periphery with said side walls, one of said side walls having an opening communicating with the space between the bottom walls; and a dustpan having an end wall proportioned to close said opening, said dustpan being slidably insertable through the opening for supporting of the dustpan on the sec end-named bottom wall, the dust pan having side wall flanges coextensive in height with the end wall of the dust pan from a location intermediate opposite ends of the side wall flanges to the end wall, said side wall flanges tapering from said location intermediate the ends of the side wall flanges to those ends of the side wall flanges remote from the dust pan end wall, to merge into the plane of the bottom of the dust pan at that end thereof remote from said end wall, thus to facilitate insertion of the dust pan in said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 180,590 Hunter Aug. 1, 1876 217,508 Buckhout July 15, 1879 225,818 Fredericks Mar. 317,678 Schambel May 1885 473,004: Hull Apr. 19, 1892 786,077 Wehmeier Mar. 28, 1905 1,078,117 Wood Nov. 11, 1913 1,215,725 Shelley Feb. 13, 1017 1,712,864 Willson May 14, 1929 1,990,026 Glen Feb. 5, 1935 2,510,860 Blumenson Jun 1950 2,549,572 Campenelli Apr. 17, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 119,285 Austria Oct. 10, 1950 

